Penn State could not overcome a series of self-imposed miscues, an erratic offense and Michigan State’s trick-play game and suffered a stunning 21-17 loss Saturday to the unranked Spartans at Beaver Stadium.

How it happened

Penn State thought it had made the play of the game, when safety Garrett Taylor broke up a pass on a fake field goal. However, the Lions’ offense, which struggled mightily in the second half, could not put together any series to eat yardage or clock.

Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke led a 76-yard scoring drive in the last 2 minutes, capping it with a touchdown pass to Felton Davis to give the Spartans the fifth win over Penn State in six seasons..

Penn State’s loss, and its offense’s collapse, mitigated a successful first-half run game, which surprised the nation’s top-ranked rush defense. Michigan State had not allowed an opponent to rush for 100 yards in eight consecutive games or a carry longer than 16 yards this season. Miles Sanders demolished that stat model, scoring on a 78-yard touchdown run in the first half that ushered in a surprising offensive day.

Sanders rushed for 162 yards, and KJ Hamler caught his fifth touchdown pass of the season.

Quarterback Trace McSorley beat himself up for his 19-for-32 game in which he didn’t get much help from his receiving corps.

“I wasn’t myself today, so that’s on me,” he said. “There’s a lot of throws out there that I want back. A lot of decisions that I’m going to want back when I look at the film.”

The big play

Lewerke threw a perfect back-shoulder pass to Davis for a 25-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left. The play capped a stunning eight-play, 76-yard scoring drive that lasted just one minute.

Lewerke threw to Davis four times on the series, completing just the touchdown pass.

What we learned

Penn State safety Garrett Taylor broke up five passes, none bigger (at the time) than in the fourth quarter on a trick play. Michigan State attempted a fake field goal by throwing to 300-pound defensive tackle Raequan Williams, who had a step on Taylor.

The safety recovered and prevented Williams from making the catch, which at least would have converted a first down. By trying the field goal, Michigan State passes on a chance to tie the game with kicker Matt Coghlin, who entered the game 8-for-8 on the season.

But Taylor also wanted back a missed interception on Michigan State’s second-last drive that could have made a difference.

Penn State’s defense has given up game-winning touchdowns in consecutive fourth quarters to Ohio State and Michigan State. Both came against tired defenses. Despite playing more guys Saturday, Penn State’s defense got no help from its offense, which couldn’t string together time-consuming drives

Penn State made some curious offensive calls on third and fourth downs, some of which had little chance of connecting. Among them was a low-percentage fourth-quarter fade route to Juwan Johnson that led to a field goal.

It’s clear Franklin doesn’t have a lot of trust in his field-goal game from longer than 40 yards. Instead of attempting a 46-yarder in the third, Franklin called for a 4th-and-3 McSorley run. Pinegar later hit an upright on a 37-yarder.

Special teams might want to pay more attention to their head coach. Franklin warned last week that Michigan State would run a fake “at any time in the game,” which made its successful first-half fake punt so stunning. Compounding that was a running-back pass from Connor Heyward to Cam Chambers that covered 36 yards and led to the Spartans’ first touchdown.

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UP NEXT: Penn State visits Indiana on Oct. 20. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.